Sports racquet

ABSTRACT

A sports racquet has a head including a frame defining a flat string area. The frame comprises a plurality of airflow openings in a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the flat string area. A plurality of interwoven strings are attached to the flat strung area by going through a plurality of holes that are parallel to the plane of the flat string area, and the strings do not go through the airflow openings.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates in general to sports racquets, such asracquetball racquets, tennis rackets, squash racquets and badmintonracquets, and more particularly to strung racquets having openings onthe frame to increase the swing speed.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventionally, a racquet comprises a head in connection with a handlethrough a throat portion. The head usually consists of a frame and aplurality of interwoven strings. The frame is provided with a number ofstringing holes along the periphery thereof for attaching the strings.The stringing holes are substantially parallel to the plane of the head.

Increasing the swing speed of the racquet is important for the sports inwhich the racquet is used. Therefore, there is a need for increasing theswing speed of the racquet.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of this invention is to provide a racquet with increasedswing speed than the racquets known in the art.

The aforementioned object is accomplished by a racquet according to thepresent invention which provides a special arrangement of airflowopenings through the frame that are perpendicular to the plane of theflat strung area of the racquet. The racquet also includes a pluralityof interwoven strings attached to the flat strung area by going througha plurality of holes that are parallel to the plane of the flat strungarea, and the strings do not go through the air flow openings that arein a direction substantially perpendicular to the plane of the flatstrung area.

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art in view of the descriptionof the best presently known mode of carrying out the invention asdescribed herein and as illustrated in the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the racquet according to thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 is a partial side view of the head of the racquet according tothe present invention; and

FIG. 3 is a partial enlarged perspective view of the frame of the headof the racquet according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1-2 of the drawings, the racquet comprises a head 10in connection with a handle 24 through a throat portion 22. The head 10consists of a frame 12 defining a flat string area 20, and. The flatstring area 20 is surrounded by the frame 12. The frame 12 is in oneplane so that the defined string area 20 is flat and in the same plane.The frame 12 can be made of any appropriate material, such as metalalloy or carbon fiber, and in any appropriate shape, such as round oroval. The cross section of the frame can be round, oval, rectangular,etc. For convenience of explanation, as shown in FIGS. 1-3, the framehas four side surfaces—a front surface 11, a back surface 13, an outersurface 17 and an inner surface 15. These surfaces can be flat, concave,or convex. In addition, the front and back surfaces 11, 13 can benarrower than the inner and outer surfaces 15, 17, depending on thedesign of the frame 12. The frame 12 has a plurality of string holes 18through its body with exits on the inner and outer surfaces 15, 17 ofthe periphery, and in a direction that is parallel to the plane of theflat string area 20. Preferably, these string holes 18 are in one plane.The racquet head 10 further includes a plurality of strings 16 locatedin the plane of the flat string area 20. The strings 16 are attached tothe frame 12 through these string holes 18 by interweaving with eachother in conventional ways. For example, a string 16 goes into a stringhole 18 from the inner surfaces 15 and comes out from the string hole 18on the outer surface 17, then the same string 16 enters the next stringhole from the outer surface 17 and emerges from the inner surface 16 ofthe frame to be interwoven with other strings, as shown in FIGS. 2-3.

Additionally, the frame 12 includes a plurality of airflow openings 14through its body with the exits of the openings 14 on the front surface11 and back surface 13, respectively. These airflow openings 14 are,preferably, perpendicular to the plane of the flat string area 20. Theairflow opening can be of different sizes or shapes. Preferably, theairflow openings 14 are located between the string holes 18, as shown inFIGS. 2-3. Such location will ensure that the airflow openings 14 arenot blocked by the strings 16 going through the string holes 18. It isimportant that the airflow openings 14 are not overlapped with thestring holes 18 or in any way blocked by strings 16. Therefore, nothingblocks the airflow opening 14 in the frame 12 when the racquet is swungduring use. Such arrangement of the airflow openings 14 will reduce theair resistance met by the racquet during swing and increase the swingspeed of the racquet. Therefore, such racquet with airflow openings onthe frame meets the need in the art for a racquet of increased swingspeed.

While there have been shown and described what are at present consideredthe preferred embodiments of the present invention, it will be obviousto those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications maybe made therein without departing from the scope of the invention asdefined by the appended claims.

1. A sports racquet comprising a head including a frame defining a flatstring area, wherein the frame comprises a plurality of airflow openingsthough its body in a direction substantially perpendicular to the planeof the flat string area.
 2. The sports racquet of claim 1, wherein aplurality of interwoven strings are attached to the flat strung area bygoing through a plurality of holes through the periphery of the frame,the holes being parallel to the plane of the flat string area, and thestrings do not go through the airflow openings.
 3. The sports racquet ofclaim 2, wherein each of the airflow openings is located between theholes in the periphery of the frame.